Which order should you visit the Disney parks?

This post is part of the series “Real Moms of Disney.” Liz from Wisconsin is sharing her thoughts after a trip to Walt Disney World with her family. Her advice on which order to see the parks is incredible, be sure to check it out! – Tiffany

How many times have you been to Disney World? Was this the first trip for your child?

I have been to Disney at least 5 times as a child, and twice as an adult without children, but this was my son’s first trip at age 6. He’s an only child, so it was easy to decide when to take him–he was ready for rides and has a great memory, so we knew the trip would stay with him. He’s already asking when we can go back.

Where did you stay? Would you choose that option again?

We stayed at the Boardwalk Inn near EPCOT and I would 100% go back. The whole Boardwalk resort area is elaborately themed, a perfect blend of lively and quiet, and so so convenient. I’d also be willing to try the other resorts in the area, like the Beach Club and the Yacht Club. The Friendship boats take you to Hollywood Studios or EPCOT. Both parks are actually easy walking distance, especially EPCOT and the much less crowded International Gateway.

It was particularly wonderful after the late night shows to be able to stroll home while everyone was still standing in line for the monorails or buses at the front of the park. Not to mention how easy it was to take a mid-day break without feeling like we were losing lots of park time with transportation.

What was your favorite dining experience?

We didn’t do the dining plan since the kiddo is not a big or adventurous eater. Instead we did counter service when we got hungry. That really worked for us because we didn’t have to plan where to be based on meal reservations. We tended to eat earlier than the big crowds, too.

Some of my favorite counter service spots are:

Sunshine Seasons food court in the lower level of The Land Pavillion: Lots of variety to choose from, and they even had soy milk for our dairy intolerant kiddo.

Tortuga Tavern in Adventureland at the Magic Kingdom: It’s right across from the Pirates of the Carribean. The kiddo loves quesadillas, and I liked the condiment bar to spice up my taco salad.

The only dining reservation we made the whole trip was at Hollywood & Vine to get the Fantasmic Dinner Package. We were there at a pretty small crowd time of year, so we probably didn’t need the package to get decent seats, but we needed dinner anyway, and the cafeteria style made it easy to feed Mr. Picky, so why not!

What advice would you give another mom planning a trip?

As a kid, my family always stayed off-property. Now having stayed on-property twice as an adult, I’d really have a hard time going back without staying at a Disney hotel. The experience is always great. The convenience of the almost nonexistent commute to the parks is worth every penny to me. Add in the Magical Express and you’ve got the easiest trip ever. The cast members really do always have a smile and everyone is willing to help.

I’d also say don’t underestimate the heat. We went in April, and although the temps were officially predicated to be in the low 80s, the humidity, crowds, and heat from the blacktop definitely took a toll. We ended up buying one of the ridiculously overpriced spray fans filled with ice water, and I spent the rest of the trip lugging it around. It was a pain sometimes, but man did that feel good. I ended up spraying down a lot of strangers’ kids, too. There were so many sweaty, red-faced kiddos looking on with envy as I sprayed myself and my family. I’d recommend getting one ahead of time if you’re not going in cooler temps.

We had a great time taking silly pictures in the gift shops, too. Putting on pirate gear, viking helmets, or character hats and taking a few pictures made for free souvenirs. The staff didn’t mind a bit. Even when we had a sword fit in the Norway pavilion gift shop.

Kiddo was young enough that we didn’t stay up late to see the fireworks at the Magic Kingdom or the Electric Light Parade. He’s seen pictures of it since then and requested to see it next time. That’s about the only thing we’d change though!

Oh, and I’m never going back on Stitch’s Wild Ride. It was gross and scary for kiddo and just not worth it. Even with no line.

I’d probably add at least one day to our trip as well. We went from a Monday-Friday with travel on the first and last days. Three days in the parks was great, but it would have been nice to spend maybe one more, or try a water park. Especially considering how hot it was!

What was the most magical moment from your trip?

We decided to do the parks in reverse order. Animal Kingdom in the morning, EPCOT in the afternoon, then EPCOT the next morning, and Hollywood Studios in the afternoon. We saved the Magic Kingdom for last, because we wanted all the parks to be exciting and magical for the kiddo. Since seeing the castle is such a big moment, saving it for last gave the other parks and opportunity to shine in their own right before the big entrance onto Main Street really made a great finale to the trip for him. I would definitely recommend that approach. It also made for reduced crowds in the Magic Kingdom since most people start there.

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Comments

We just returned on Saturday from a week at Disney. First time staying at a Disney resort, Caribbean Beach. My 10 year old daughter is not much of a ride kid. Is very afraid of things. We made the mistake of going on the Stitch ride. Never again!! She was so afraid when we walked in and she saw the seats with the big restraints that came down. They weren’t even necessary. And then being burped on. Just gross. We will Definetly skip that next time. We traveled on Saturday, and went to MK on our first park day, then Epcot day 2. Day 3 we made a rest day and went to Downtown Disney. Next day was Hollywood Studios, day after that was Animal Kingdom. We had one more day, Friday that we could vote on which park we wanted to go back to. We decided to go back to Magic Kingdom. Figured we would start and end our trip there. The light parade and fireworks at MK is amazing! ! We had such a great trip!

I’ll never forget our first trip to WDW and that awful Stitch ride! I’m with you, the restraints were totally unnecessary and it scared my youngest just seeing them. None of us had been there before so we didn’t know what to expect. I thought the whole room was going to start spinning or something and I was thinking what in the world have we gotten ourselves into. Then… nothing. Complete let-down. To this day, I honestly couldn’t tell you what that “ride” was about. I think it’s one of the worst at WDW.

I like all your advice. We’ve been three times in the last six years and each time we did things a bit differently based on knowledge of what to expect and tapping into other resources like Pinterest and blogs to get advice and ideas. Based on all that, we plan seven full days at the parks so we don’t have to rush and don’t feel like we have to squeeze every waking minute out of the day.

Kenny the Pirate and WDW Prep School are my two favorite resources on the web for information. Kenny’s crown calendars are what I base my selection of park days on. Generally, on day one, we start with AK, then on day two we either do HS or EPCOT. On day three we do either HS or EPCOT (depending on which one we did the day before) and then we take day four “off” to relax and swim at our hotel, resort hop, sleep in, or just whatever we want to do so we can be fresh for the last two days of our trip. Day five we do Magic Kingdom and day six we take a vote to return to one of the parks we’ve already visited. This past year, on the last day, we did AK in the morning and HS that evening. It was by far the most enjoyable of our three trips to WDW. I think having the “off” day in the middle of the trip is key.

Excellent ideas, we are going to Magic Kingdom and Sea World in two weeks. That was my thought To go to Sea World first and MK the next day. My son loves animals but I know if he would go to MK first it was going to outshine Sea World. Growing up my family took us to Disney every year, this is my 6 year old first time, it’s going to be a surprise. I can’t wait to see his expression when he finds out ! I think I’m more excited than he will be ! Love creating childhood memories !

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Strong families start with strong and happy mothers. Too often as women we put everyone's needs before our own. Here at Peanut Blossom, I encourage you to use simple everyday moments ... Read More about Welcome

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